WARNING: The words “Raiders,” Browns,” and “Playoffs” may be used in the same sentence.
After starting 2-4, the Raiders seem to have found the confidence that a 45 point road victory could ignite in any team. The Raiders have improved to 5-4 after lopsided victories against the Broncos and Seahawks, but it was yesterday’s victory over their division rival, the Chiefs, in a come from behind, overtime victory. This proves that even when their suddenly dominant offense is held in check, they can still find a way to win.
After their week 10 bye, the Raiders play three of four on the road starting with Pittsburgh on November 21st. If the Raiders can pull off a huge upset in Pittsburgh, the Raiders will play Miami at home, a very winnable game, at San Diego (who lost to the Raiders in week five) and a winnable road game at Jacksonville. With the competitive nature of the AFC, the Raiders best shot at making the playoffs is winning the AFC West, and a lot will have to play out with the Chiefs and especially the Chargers, who have made a habit of late season win streaks. However, even if the Raiders don’t make the playoffs, this Raiders team seems to finally have it together and the coaching carousel can take a break for at least another season.
The Browns started typically terrible as far as their 1-5 record as of week 6, but this includes a three point loss at Tampa Bay, two point loss to Kansas City, seven point loss to Baltimore and ten point loss to Atlanta. These games could have easily gone the other way. Then came October 24th, when the Browns went down to NOLA and put a beating on the world champions, 30-17. After the bye, the Eric Mangini’s Browns were out to prove that the Saints game wasn’t a fluke and dominated the 6-1 Patriots under rookie Colt McCoy and budding star Peyton Hillis’ 184 yard, 2 touchdown performance.
The Browns have a good situation as far as schedule. They host the Jets who almost lost to the Lions, in week ten, followed by winnable games against Jacksonville, Carolina, Miami, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and close the season with home games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The Browns have a shot at going 9-7, and if they keep dominating good teams like New Orleans and New England, they have a shot at winning out.
The Raiders and Browns need to forget their identity as perennial losers to pull off winning seasons, but the NFL and the public love come from behind Cinderella stories. Either one of these teams making the playoffs would be immensely popular stories. However, hypothetically, if one of these two teams look like they’re going to win out, NBC will flex their late season games to prime time, and all of a sudden these rag tag teams will have the pressure of playing games of intense implications in front of a national audience. Can either of these teams handle the pressure? It should be fun to watch, given they don’t crumble in Raiders/Browns fashion.
NOT THIS YEAR: DETROIT LIONS
The Lions had a huge opportunity fall through their fingers with a near victory over the New York Jets. The Lions are far better than their record. They should have gotten the Calvin Johnson game winning touchdown in week one, lost by 3 points to Philly and 2 points to Green Bay and could have easily been 5-2 entering the Jets game, but haven’t found a way to win close games. They haven’t been able to turn victories into confidence, and week to week defensive output has been chaotic. The Lions have played well against very good teams and should be good enough to take positives from their losses, but it is yet to be seen if head coach Jim Schwartz is capable of building confidence in his players. The Lions, at most, will get 7 wins.